When and how forcefully should we give our opinion of a property?

Buyers these days seem so demanding and picky. I have had some clients for a year now (ugh!). They should have bought the first house I showed them. But they want it all...and they want to steal it. Sunday I showed them an immaculate cape cod w/ an addition: typical rabbit warren of rooms but beautifully maintained...neat as a pin and Q-tip clean. Then we saw a center hall colonial--the woman's ideal style house. It cost $75,000 more but it had a great location, modern open floor plan with big rooms+flow--and their 2 most important priorities: fenced yard and  big master suite. It was vacant. It had older kitchen cabinets and a cheap-looking kitchen floor. It was not super clean and some rooms needed paint. An old leak had left a small water stain in the living room--nothing worrisome. I blurted out: "This one is so much better than the last house." The buyers were shocked. Mom, Dad and design student daugher all preferred the first house! I stammered something about trusting your gut feeling....and "If you don't like the house, I don't want you to buy it." I've been in 40+ houses with these people! I read people pretty well. I was stunned. At this point, I wonder if they will ever buy anything. And I wonder how and when--or IF... I should pull out my old "price vs. value" thoughts.